BHUBANESWAR: Crime Branch (CB) has directed ride-hailing aggregators Uber and Rapido to discontinue their bike-taxi services describing it ‘unauthorised’ as non-transport two-wheelers are being used in the state.
The directive was issued following special enforcement reports submitted by the regional transport offices (RTOs) of Cuttack, Bhubaneswar-I and Bhubaneswar-II.
The reports highlighted the alleged illegal use of private, non-transport two-wheelers for commercial passenger transportation. While transport two-wheelers are registered with yellow number plates, non-transport vehicles bear white number plates.
If the bike-taxi services are discontinued, it would pose huge inconvenience to short-distance commuters while giving autorickshaw operators more advantage.
According to the authorities, the bike-taxi service practice violates the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, and the Odisha On-demand Transportation Technology Aggregators Guidelines, 2023.
In a letter to the nodal officers of Uber and Rapido, CID-CB IG directed the companies to implement appropriate geo-fencing or other technical measures to restrict unauthorised bike-taxi bookings in Odisha.
However, the CB clarified that the restriction should apply exclusively to non-transport two-wheeler services and must not affect authorised services such as cab and auto-rickshaw bookings in the state. The aggregators have been given 15 days from the receipt of the communication to implement the restrictions.
The companies have also been asked to submit detailed compliance reports to the CID-CB office and the State Transport Authority (STA), specifying the date of implementation and the technical measures adopted. The CB warned that failure to comply with the directive would invite regulatory and legal action involving the STA and other concerned authorities.
